Félix Hernández makes historic jump in HOF vote, but still has a climb to go

With the final balloting in for the 2026 Baseball Hall of Fame class, a path to Cooperstown for Seattle Mariners legend Félix Hernández remains optimistic, but not without its challenges.

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While taking a considerable jump towards having his name on the required 75% of the ballots submitted by eligible BBWAA members, there was a significant final-day dip that came with the counting of ballots not previously shared publicly, which perhaps forecast what will be a bit more of a climb than hoped after the early returns.

After seeing his name on just 20.6% of the ballots in his first year of eligibility in 2025, eyes were opened when Hernández’s second-year percentage quickly jumped into the 50s on ballots that were made public, shared and then tabulated by Ryan Thibodaux on his popular Hall of Fame ballot tracker. The tally of the public votes before the Hall of Fame announcement on Tuesday afternoon was 55.1%, but that number fell to 46.1% when all ballots were tallied.

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While it took Félix further from the 75% necessary for induction, it was nonetheless a still tremendous year-to-year jump of 25.5%, the largest from one year to the next since 1967.

An influx of first-time voters helped Hernández’s cause both in votes and visibility. What seemed a bit of a longshot since the day he retired gets a boost as his case is being more widely shared. The spotlight is invaluable. What sport better loves its discourse, debate and discussion than baseball, and what better reward than permanent residence in the Baseball Hall of Fame?

Hernández’s case has always been curious as he doesn’t have the traditional benchmark numbers. It is widely acknowledged, however, that those numbers in today’s game are largely unattainable. The game is quickly changing, and adjustments should be made in what represents the best of the game at the time. Félix found himself in an odd spot, just out of the “old school starter” group and too soon for the pitching lab wonders we are seeing today – although that didn’t stop him from becoming the godfather of the hard changeup with a low velocity differential from the fastball that had hardly been seen before him.

Drayer: The fascinating Hall of Fame case of Félix Hernández

Félix’s numbers and representation of his position at the time (it’s worth noting only eight starting pitchers who pitched in at least some part of the 2000s have been elected to the Hall of Fame) will continue to scrutinized, and maybe better defined in the context of his era. The context is the key, and the voting would indicate that picture looks different today than it did when he took the mound for the last time at T-Mobile Park in 2019.

All in all, it was a good day for Félix Hernández.

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